Novel Full Chapter 927 - 50: Swamp Prefecture Planning (2)
Chapter 927: Chapter 50: Swamp Prefecture Planning (2)
"The other princes won’t be like His Highness." Uncle Gao said with a puzzled expression, "I feel that His Highness really enjoys working in the fields. A few days ago during plowing, I saw him smiling happily." He also participated in the plowing and felt tired after a while, but it seemed like His Highness never got tired, smiling from beginning to end.
"He indeed enjoys farming."
"Honestly, His Highness really doesn’t seem like a prince." Having interacted with His Highness for so long, he felt that His Highness didn’t resemble the high and mighty prince but rather an ordinary person. However, the noble aura about His Highness was not something ordinary people could possess.
A while ago, when he went to Nanshan Farm, he surprisingly saw His Highness milking cows and goats. That wasn’t the most shocking; the most astonishing thing was seeing His Highness personally deliver piglets. Is this something a prince of such noble status would do?
"His Highness truly doesn’t care about his princely status." Thinking of Zhao Yao delivering piglets, Uncle Gao had a mixed expression of laughter and tears.
"He doesn’t care. He always says he’s no different from others, possessing the same two eyes, two ears, a nose, and a mouth. There’s no difference. He says that being born into the Imperial Family makes his status noble, but it also comes with immense responsibility. All he can do is his utmost to make the people’s lives a bit better."
"His Highness truly is a good person. No wonder the Emperor and you designed for him to ascend to the throne." His ascent to the throne is a blessing for the people of the world.
"He talks about wanting to be a leisurely prince but does many things for the benefit of the people, far exceeding his ideals. He always believes that doing something for the people is the right thing to do." He Lian Fang sighed, "He actually cares for the people of the world, but he isn’t aware of it."
"This is the rarest and most valuable trait." Even though His Highness has a lot of money, he never spends it on himself. He spends it all for the people. His Highness sent him to Japan to find gold and silver mountains, not for himself but for the people.
While He Lian Fang and Uncle Gao were chatting, they heard from outside that His Highness had returned. Uncle Gao was about to greet Zhao Yao when Zhao Yao approached directly.
Uncle Gao saw Zhao Yao dressed in coarse cloth, with a hole in the knee part, and was startled, widening his eyes.
"Your Highness, why are you dressed like this?"
Zhao Yao looked down at his clothes and didn’t find anything wrong.
"What’s wrong with this outfit?"
"This outfit..." Uncle Gao didn’t know what to say for a moment, carefully choosing his words, "doesn’t look like a Prince."
Hearing this, Zhao Yao understood what Uncle Gao was surprised about. He chuckled and said, "I’ve been in the fields these days. If I don’t wear these clothes, should I wear princely robes?" With that said, he sat down and accepted a cup of tea from He Lian Fang.
"Your Highness, you’re a prince after all. Shouldn’t you pay some attention to your status?"
Zhao Yao, upon hearing this, looked at Uncle Gao teasingly, "Uncle Gao, I didn’t expect you to be such a formalist."
"What does formalist mean?"
"It means overly concerned with appearances." Zhao Yao said with amusement, "I thought you didn’t care about anything."
"I’m not, I just think your current appearance somewhat compromises the dignity of a prince."
"Dignity isn’t just superficial appearances." Zhao Yao said nonchalantly, "I don’t care about these things."
Uncle Gao wanted to say more, but He Lian Fang interrupted him.
"Weren’t you out inspecting the fields? How come you had time to come back?" He Lian Fang asked, "All done inspecting?"
"All done, the plowing is quite good." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "Next, we’ll wait for God to send rain."
"What will you be busy with next?"
"Busy with planning for Swamp Prefecture, I discovered the planning of Swamp Prefecture has many issues." Zhao Yao was quite annoyed at himself for only noticing this, "I plan to re-plan Swamp Prefecture before the trade conference."
"Planning of Swamp Prefecture?" Both He Lian Fang and Uncle Gao were puzzled, "What planning?"
"It’s the layout." Zhao Yao said with a serious face, "The layout of Swamp Prefecture has many issues, I need to plan it properly."
"Layout issues?" Uncle Gao asked, "Is it bad feng shui?"
"It’s not a feng shui issue." Zhao Yao explained, "A few days ago there was heavy rain, and many areas in Swamp Prefecture were waterlogged, that’s the issue."
Hearing this from Zhao Yao, He Lian Fang realized it, yet the waterlogging wasn’t deep.
"The waterlogging wasn’t severe."
"That’s because it wasn’t a torrential rain and didn’t last long. I inquired, Swamp Prefecture used to be frequently flooded." Zhao Yao said while pinching his chin, "The trade conference is about to begin, there’ll be many people, so we need to build some public toilets in the streets, otherwise, it’d be awkward with nowhere to go during nature’s call."
He Lian Fang and Uncle Gao were both shocked, "Build public toilets?"
"And also need to work on greening, to create a narrow green belt in the middle of the road, planting some Lingnan-specific flowers and plants. This way, it’s not only beautiful, but full of life."
"Plant flowers on the road?"
"There is another problem that needs immediate attention, and that is the water supply issue." Swamp Prefecture is surrounded by the sea on three sides, seemingly rich in water resources, but it’s all seawater. Moreover, Swamp Prefecture’s groundwater is affected by the sea, making the water somewhat salty. The locals are used to it, but Zhao Yao is not.
Prince Han’s Mansion has a well, but the well water is salty. The steward of Prince Han’s Mansion knows Zhao Yao doesn’t like saltwater, so he specially fetches lake water from afar.
There is a large lake to the west of Swamp Prefecture, locally known as Swamp Lake. The lake water comes from the mountains, so it’s essentially spring water, and the quality is excellent.
"Take advantage of the current road construction to bring Swamp Lake’s water into Swamp Prefecture, so that all its residents can have access to high-quality lake water." Zhao Yao said while nodding, "It’s also a good time to fix the drainage problem of the sewers."
He Lian Fang and Uncle Gao listened, utterly confused. Just as they were about to ask Zhao Yao what to do, Tong Xi came in and informed Zhao Yao that Zheng Cheng had arrived.
"Second Uncle, Uncle Gao, I’ll go discuss the Swamp Prefecture planning with Zheng Cheng, you continue chatting." With that, he breezed out of He Lian Fang’s house.
After Zhao Yao had left for a while, He Lian Fang and Uncle Gao came back to their senses.
Uncle Gao looked at He Lian Fang with a perplexed expression and asked, "What was His Highness just talking about?" He could understand every word, but not when they were put together.
He Lian Fang shook his head and said, "Who knows what he’s up to, he thinks and acts out of the blue."
"His Highness always speaks of words or phrases we’ve never heard before."
"He’s often like that." He Lian Fang replied, "Just ignore him and let’s continue with our conversation."
On the other hand, Zhao Yao went to his study with Zheng Cheng. He explained the Swamp Prefecture planning issue to Zheng Cheng in detail.
After listening, Zheng Cheng understood Zhao Yao’s intentions immediately.
"You should discuss with the craftsmen and first get the drainage system of Swamp Prefecture sorted out."
"Rest assured, Your Highness, I’ll come up with a solution with the craftsmen as soon as possible."
"Regarding bringing Swamp Lake’s water into Swamp Prefecture, I’ll discuss it with the craftsmen." Zhao Yao thought it could be referenced from a historical dream of Zhao Yao’s world where Su Dongpo built hydraulic projects in Hangzhou to solve the residents’ water supply issues. Now there are plenty of hands to get these things done before the trade conference.